Bright and Early
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: Three special circumstances: 1.) It's Zelos's eighteenth birthday. 2.) Sheena, his traveling companion and friend of over a year now, is not a morning person. 3.) Zelos wants a birthday present, and Sheena doesn't have one. So how does all that play out? Written as a birthday present, oddly enough, for a friend of mine. T for Zelos. I do not own Tales or the fanart!


"Good morning, sunshine!"

Zelos's overly cheerful voice crashed through a formerly pleasant dream about floating on a cloud, effectively shattering the illusion of peace. Sheena groaned and tried clumsily to pull a pillow over her head in an effort to get the boisterous Chosen to leave her alone, but her grip wasn't especially strong under the circumstances, and the pillow was tugged gently out of her grasp. Seething silently and mostly incoherently to herself, Sheena tried to open her eyelids, but they seemed as heavy as lead.

"What's the occasion?" mumbled Sheena after a pause, during which she resigned herself to wakefulness. _Zelos never wakes me up unless there's something 'important' happening, like if he's hungry. _It had taken him an extraordinarily long time to realize that Sheena was definitely not a morning person; Sheena recalled with some fondness the day she had almost broken Zelos's nose and shouted him down on the seventh straight day he had awakened her before nine o'clock in the morning.

"It's my birthday, of course!" glowed Zelos—literally. As Sheena finally succeeded in prying her eyes open, she winced: his head was blocking out the sun, but his hair (sunrise-colored curls cascading almost to his waist at this point, bound only by the headband she had given him long ago) caught the light, creating something of a halo effect. _Yeah right, like _he's _an angel._

Sheena made an effort to roll her eyes, sitting up wearily. She couldn't have gotten more rest than a few hours last night, kept up primarily by the fact that she had resolved not to sleep until Zelos returned to their room at the inn in traditional happy exhaustion, usually around three in the morning.

"Why are you always so chipper?" yawned Sheena, following this train of thought to its conclusion as she stretched weariness out of her bones. "It's not like you got any more sleep than me last night," she added, but paused as she noted that Zelos hadn't bothered to put a shirt on. Averting her eyes with a muttered curse, she kept her gaze on the ceiling, hating Zelos's knowing chuckle. _Put some clothes on!_

"Do you really want me to answer that?" he responded, reaching out a hand and caressing Sheena's cheek as she stared stonily upwards. _Why does he always feel the need to do that?! _She swatted his ever-gloved hand away suddenly, forcing her gaze back to Zelos and taking in his full appearance.

_At least he's wearing pants, _she noticed, spirits lifting slightly as she realized she would not have to relive that one embarrassing morning when she had thrown the covers off Zelos only to discover he was not wearing anything. Now, she was lucky if she could so much as mention blankets in front of him without his saying anything about it.

Sheena sighed heavily and got out of bed, pulling her hair out of its ponytail and running her hands through it by way of a brush. "No," she replied, glowering at herself in the mirror. She was about to tie around her waist her traditional pink ribbon—which Zelos had bought her a long time ago, and which she had become accustomed to wearing despite her ordinary aversion to the color—when it occurred to her that Zelos was regarding her with an expectant expression on his face, like a dog awaiting a treat.

"…Um, what are you looking at me like that for?" asked Sheena warily, eyeing the Chosen suspiciously.

"It's my birthday," repeated Zelos, blinking at her innocently. "Aren't you going to congratulate me?"

"What, for making it to whatever age you are without me killing you?" Sheena couldn't suppress a laugh as she spoke. "Well then, great job. Many happy returns, and all that." She inspected her teeth carefully; there was no need to bother brushing them, since that would just be one more excuse for Zelos to try to kiss her. Again. A week didn't go by without some move in that direction being made on his part. Sheena had learned to accept kisses on the forehead (if the definition of 'accept' means 'allow, provided appropriate fisticuffs follow'), but anything on the lips was right out. _Why would I give my first real kiss to someone like him, who would just throw it away?_

"I'm eighteen!" protested Zelos, interrupting her thoughts and looking scandalized. "And I think we all know what that means," he added, giving Sheena _the look_. Sheena rolled her eyes—_the look _was simply a cross between what was evidently considered a seductive expression among most (okay, all) females and, in her case, some added incentive in the form of puppy-dog eyes. Fortunately, Sheena had developed a high 'cuteness' threshold over her years alone (Corrine being the only viable exception), and it took a lot more than anything Zelos could give to budge her.

Sheena raised her eyebrows, putting her hair back up where it belonged and approaching the bed. "Eighteen, huh?" she asked, sitting next to Zelos, though very careful to keep her distance lest she somehow end up in his lap—as had happened numerous times before. _He never learns. _"I think I _do _know what that means," she continued, curling her hand into a fist. "A punch for each year!"

Eyes widening, Zelos scooted away from Sheena almost imperceptibly, but he quickly regained his composure. "Only if each hit is followed by a kiss," he retorted sweetly. "With an advance payment," he added, as Sheena's triumphant expression splintered into dismay. _He always finds a way to screw things up._

"No deal," responded Sheena, standing up abruptly. "Hey, why don't we start the journey to Flanoir today? We've never been there," she added as Zelos opened his mouth, raising her voice slightly to discourage further discussion of the topic of kisses. _He talks about it enough as is. _"It's summer, so there won't be any snow. Not that I understand why you hate it so much," she added, frowning slightly. "But if it's a touchy subject, _I _for one have enough respect not to talk about it, unlike someone I could mention sitting on that bed." She glared into Zelos's falsely innocent sky-blue eyes, daring him to deny that he constantly tried to ask about the Volt incident.

Zelos shrugged. "The first time I ever saw snow was when my father's filthy half-elf mistress tried to kill me and got my mother instead," he muttered, so quietly Sheena could barely hear. "But that's all in the past, right?" he continued at normal volume. He could not meet Sheena's wide eyes as he spoke, and looked at the ground. "Let's not bring this up on my birthday. It's all right," he added, looking up as Sheena opened her mouth to apologize. "I know a better way to say you're sorry anyway."

As a suggestive grin took its hold on Zelos's face, Sheena shook her head to herself. _How does he always find a way to ruin every moment? _"Nothing doing," she retorted, though she knew her voice was gentler than it usually was under the circumstances. "Go talk to one of your whor—"

"I _told _you," interrupted Zelos patiently. "The proper term is _groupie_. Of which I have exactly…" He paused to count on his fingers, which was evidently completely pointless, as he continued, "Twenty-eight throughout Tethe'alla." As he leaned back on his hands, a self-satisfied smirk painted itself on his face. Part of Sheena longed to slap it off, but by talking about his past, he had managed to completely disarm her—something she never thought was possible, especially not for _him_.

"Speechless, I see!" exclaimed Zelos, startling Sheena out of her thoughts. "You're a little spacey today, huh?" he added, tilting his head; his curls spilled to the side, still illuminated by the sun. Sheena shook her head distractedly, still trying to process the fact that someone as bubbly as Zelos could possibly have such a tragic past. _He was telling the truth, too, _she mused. _I can tell when he's lying. He wasn't lying…_

Sheena rolled her eyes as a way of transporting herself back to the present, instinctively smacking his shoulder, though still more softly than she would ordinarily. "You just woke me up!" she growled, and flopped down on her bed defeatedly. "Why are you even still sitting there, anyway?" she added in a mutter. "I didn't get you a stupid birthday present. Go away."

"I'm not leaving till you give me one," responded Zelos smilingly, looking down at her in a way that could have been considered affectionate if Sheena hadn't been too tired to concentrate. _Persistent bastard, isn't he?_

Sheena gave Zelos her best death-glare, but evidently it wasn't very effective from her present nonthreatening position, and the only effect it produced was his closing his eyes. Sighing, she rolled onto her stomach—lying sideways on a bed was surprisingly comfortable, she found. Then again, lying on _concrete_ would be comfortable as long as she didn't have to move. _This is pathetic. Whoever heard of a lazy ninja?_

"…Look, are we actually going anywhere, or did I get ready for nothing?" asked Sheena after a long pause, a sigh escaping. For once, she prayed that she had gotten ready without cause. _Can't we just go back to sleep? _He had stayed out uncommonly late last night, after all. Almost until dawn, in fact.

Zelos opened one eye to glance down at her. "I already told you I'm not moving till I get a birthday present," he asserted. "How long we stay here is entirely up to you."

An idea dawned on Sheena, and she smiled, relishing the fact that her smile had the effect of slightly unnerving Zelos. _At least I know one way of getting under his skin. Now, if I can just pull this off…_

Several minutes of silence passed, during which Sheena tried to configure the words to phrase her idea to Zelos. Finally, she propped herself up on her elbows and kneed Zelos in the side to get his attention, smiling faintly as he jumped at the motion. _Guess he's just as 'spacey' as I am._

"So, Zelos, what you _really_ want for your birthday is to sleep with me, right?"

At her words, Zelos fidgeted slightly and looked at her with blank shock, though could not meet her eyes—and Sheena could have sworn his color was heightened slightly as he mumbled something under his breath which sounded suspiciously like a 'maybe'.

Sheena giggled softly, a sound which caused a smile to tug at the corner of Zelos's mouth. "Well, we can compromise. Why don't you _literally _sleep with me? …As in, get more hours of rest, since you were up practically all night last night?"

Zelos looked a little crestfallen, but nodded hesitantly before a grin spread across his face. "Sure," he responded. "Beats _being _beaten," he added with a smile, laying down gently next to Sheena and glancing over at her as she closed her eyes contentedly.

Expecting some kind of unwanted attention from Zelos, Sheena found herself unable to sleep for awhile despite her exhaustion, but every time she opened her eyes to check on him, his eyes were closed as well. Finally, Sheena noticed that his bare chest was rising and falling slowly and steadily in slumber, and she smiled to herself, closing her eyes once more and relishing the heavy feeling of sleep washing over her gradually.

_ Maybe Birthday Boy here isn't too bad after all._

**((First Sheelos fic! Written in honor of my good friend's birthday, as it is our mutual Tales OTP. So, happy birthday, Viisauden!))**


End file.
